Reflection: The God of Testimony

Throughout the trip we had unforgettable times of testimony. During group training sessions in Costa Rica, after lunch in Nicaragua, on the bus and in various other settings team members volunteered to share his/her testimony. These times were extremely profound, and I came to love hearing testimonies. After someone shared, a handful of team members gathered around to lay hands on the individual. Ah, the beauty of prayer. The teens so readily stepped into their position of authority, as a child of the Living God, and asked God for all kinds of things. Unhindered prayer.
I recall one morning working at the church, and several girls from the team walked in and exchanged "good morning, how are you?" greetings. Several of the girls expressed feeling ill, exhausted and weak. Immediately, they began to pray for each other- even those who were feeling sick prayed for other girls who weren't feeling well. In that moment, the Kingdom of God was called down by a few high schoolers, does it get any better than that?

Therefore, a necessary 'shout out' to parents, Chad, youth leaders & mentors is due:
Though I'm only several years older than your children in some cases, they were a remarkable group of teens to serve with on this trip. You have raised up a Christ-loving group of teenagers and God was, currently is, and will be working mightily in and through them.

One final thought about testimonies: I've been pondering the idea of 'past.' I've been reminded afresh of the correlation between one's history and one's present (though we accept that our past does not determine our future, thank you Jesus Christ). When we take the time to listen to where someone has come from (the good, the bad and the ugly all included) the doors of empathy cannot help but swing wide open. When one hears a person's journey up until the very moment in which he/she speaks, respect towards that individual infinitely increases. I've been reminded of the power of testimony, both sharing and listening. God is every-working and I know that my faith has been bolstered by the delicate times of testimony we shared during this trip.